ISTANBUL, 07 & 08 June 2013 Upon the initiative of EPC Executive Board Member Mrs. Petra Huber a Memorandum of Understanding between the European Paralympic Committee and the European Fair Play Movement was signed during the Istanbul 2013 EFPM General Assembly.

THE PARALYMPIC MOVEMENT IN EUROPE: BOTH A CHALLENGE & AN OPPORTUNITY
On 7th June 2013, John Petersson, President of the European Paralympic Committee, was invited as a keynote speaker to the Istanbul 2013 EFPM Congress. In a presentation titled ‘The Paralympic Movement In Europe: Both a Challenge & an Opportunity’ the EPC President explained the general Paralympic aspiration and specifically the European Paralympic Committee with its activities; he shared his ideas regarding Paralympic values and fair play, and mentioned current challenges and opportunities for the Paralympic movement in Europe. John Petersson underlined that the “EPC is a small organisation and it would be naive to believe that it can address the current sector challenges in Europe in isolation”; therefore he strongly called for “closer cooperation of all sport and sport related stakeholders in Europe”.

MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING
On 8th June 2013, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the European Paralympic Committee and the European Fair Play Movement was signed during the Istanbul 2013 EFPM General Assembly. In attendance of the members of the European Fair Play Movement and various guests from International and European sports organisations, John Petersson and the EFPM President Christian Hinterberger signed the MoU and declared it as a crucial step for both organisations for common strategic development.
The EPC delegation consisting of John Petersson (EPC President), Petra Huber (EPC Executive Board Member) and Matthias Guett (EPC Consultant) concluded that EPC not only enjoyed the hospitality of EFPM and the Turkish organizing team led by Mr. Erdoğan Aripinar, but could identify a common vision in terms of the support and the development of fair sports in Europe. In this regard, for EPC the MoU shall mark the start of a fruitful cooperation with EFPM in the near future.